


Norman Ruins Everything (Again)

by Vex_ation



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: Family Drama, Gen, You're NOT my dad (boogie woogie woogie), implied adultery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:02:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25381309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vex_ation/pseuds/Vex_ation
Summary: Platinum learns a horrible secret about her parents... her real ones.
Relationships: Platinum Berlitz & Diamond & Pearl
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	Norman Ruins Everything (Again)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a simple woman, I see "someone is actually Norman's child" and my brain immediately latches onto the idea and refuses to let go. You could probably convince me that any and all black haired kids in spe are Norman's children and I think I'd believe you

For the first time in her life, Platinum did not get dressed until after 10AM. She prided herself on her regality, and no true princess lounged around in pajamas all day— nevermind that her knights had a tendency to waste the day in their sweats without a care. She always made herself presentable as early and efficiently as she could, as that was the Berlitz way. 

But as she drew up the silken covers and stared at her crumpled nightgown, she wondered if “the Berlitz way” truly mattered anymore. 

She could hear the click of cameras outside her window. She could see their flashing through the curtains, and try as she might to ignore it, she knew it wasn’t going away. In proper Berlitz fashion, she should have greeted them herself, dressed to the nines. As she looked at her desk, the Berlitz crest seemed dull. She could no longer wear it proudly. Instead, she pulled her knees to her chest and wondered how long she was meant to believe the charade. She wondered what her mother and father would want to say to her. A knock on the door sent shivers up her spine. 

“My lady, might you be in the mood for breakfast in bed?”

Platinum stared ahead, not responding. It was just Sebastian. Of course. He was always there. Perhaps it would be rude to ignore him— he didn’t do anything to her. He didn’t know. None of this was his fault.

“My lad— oh, good morning,” he stuttered as Platinum swung open the door. Her hair was still in disarray, her eyes still red from crying for all those hours since she got the news. The burning in her throat refused to let her words come out without a sob. Sebastian silently walked past her, putting the breakfast tray aside as he led her back to her bed. 

“I understand you’re going through a lot. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask me.”

Platinum just sat on her bed in silence, her hands clasping Sebastian’s sleeve as though begging him to stay. He turned to her, deep sorrow in his tired eyes.

“You are too young to be caught up in this, my lady.” He leaned out to stroke her hair the way he did when she was little and he would have to sing her to sleep. 

The two of them waited on the edge of the bed, watching as the breakfast grew cold in front of them. Silence cloaked them like a blanket, and for a moment, it was a return to the days of the quiet, vulnerable child and the butler who would do anything for her. Even now, nothing had changed. His reminder to her was shaky and soft, but she could hear the conviction beneath the surface that made her heart feel warm.

“I won’t let them hurt you.”

As his wrinkled fingers stroked her hair, she felt, perhaps for the first time that morning, safe. 

Then, of course, came the tabloids to ruin everything. 

Tabloid reporters were a Berlitz’s worst nightmare— a bogeyman of the rich and famous. Platinum spent many a night staring terrified at the ceiling, thinking of the men her mother had told her about with echoing voices and no souls, whose microphones were like wolves— ravenous steel jaws tearing apart your words until they lost their meaning. She feared the men with glowing cameras and flashing lights, whose honeyed voices and relentless pestering masked the sick rot of greed that shriveled their hearts to nothing. She knew them as monsters whose appetite could not be satiated, as scavengers who preyed on the misfortune of people like her. She knew them as hungry, as fearless, as cruel.

She knew them now as the people that ruined her life. 

Everything had been fine until one of them did some digging. She had been living in blissful ignorance, and now she felt like a disgrace. She was a bastard child, knowing as much of her father as an orphan, marked by the shame of adultery and wondering what it meant to have someone else’s blood running through her veins. 

Her mother still had not called. She had nothing to say, no explanation about what happened during the Rayquaza Project. She kept quiet about the things the man said to her, the things he did, what made her betray her family and give herself in to the temporary pleasures of a man who wasn’t her husband. Platinum had no idea if her mother was responsible for this, if he was or if they thought about the consequences or lost themselves to the heat beneath the bedsheets. The thoughts swirled endlessly in Platinum’s head, a music box repeating the same treacherous melody forever. She knew nothing about this “Norman”, the man supposed to be her father.  _ Father _ . The word felt hollow. 

Sebastian’s hand tensed on her back as the reporters began to bicker and shriek outside. She heard two voices amidst the chaos and turned to her butler, who nodded in affirmation.

“It seems they’ve arrived,” he said, walking briskly out into the hallway as the front doors slammed open. The chatter and clicking cameras of the reporters faded as the door closed again, Sebastian’s soft voice surprisingly firm as he beat them back. She could hear footsteps thundering up the stairs and over to her room. As she expected, Pearl burst into the room, his eyebrows knit together in anger— or perhaps it was worry.

“Those reporters are like vultures. I nearly had Rayler shock them all,” he said, pulling his scarf off and tossing it on the bed without a hello. 

“The nerve of those people, I swear!” He turned to Platinum, his voice and expression softening as soon as their eyes met. “Hi Missy. Are you doing alright?”

Platinum sighed, sniffling a little and wiping her nose on her sleeve in decidedly unladylike fashion. “No, not really,” she admitted. “Everything is terrible.”

“Well that sucks,” Pearl proclaimed, flopping onto her bed. Diamond was still in the doorway, something wrapped in napkins in his hand as he stared at the two of them. Pearl began to talk about something or other, so Platinum just stared ahead until his voice blended into the background noise. Strangely enough, she liked to hear him talk, even if she had no stakes in whatever it was he was saying. 

There was something rhythmic and soothing about the way he talked that helped her stay calm in times like these. He kept her grounded and kept her mind from wandering too much, filling up the silence with endless conversations about seemingly anything. She heard him mention something about Dwebble and sighed, leaning against him as Diamond made himself comfortable on her other side. He unwrapped the napkins to reveal two fluffy croissants, one of them already half eaten. He passed the pristine one wordlessly to Platinum, who hesitated a moment before taking a bite from his hand. He side-eyed her with a smile, pushing the croissant into her hands and sandwiching her between Pearl and himself. 

As Pearl continued to ramble on, his words soothing Platinum half to sleep, she felt his arm snake around her side. Diamond’s arm wrapped around her other side, holding her softly in place and wrapping her in a soft cocoon of two people who, in their own silly ways, knew exactly how to make her feel better. 

“Thank you,” Platinum said softly. Diamond stared at her, mouth overstuffed with croissant, and blinked in confusion. Pearl finally stopped talking, raising an eyebrow. 

“What for?” he asked. 

“The two of you always know just how to make me feel alright when everything seems terrible,” she explained. The two of them just looked at each other, wordlessly dragging her back until they all fell down on the bed together. Platinum pulled the blanket over the three of them as they struggled to find a comfortable position. By the time they were finished they were no more than a tangle of limbs, nearly on top of each other and giggling like mad as they tried to untie themselves from the knots they wound up in. 

“Speaking of Pokemon…” Pearl began. Diamond rose from under the blankets like a Kraken, shaking the pillow off his head as he replied. 

“Speaking of Pokemon…”

“The move Rest can recover a Pokémon’s HP completely, but renders the Pokémon asleep.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad if the Pokémon is holding a Chesto berry!”

“That’s true... l but I don’t think we need one in this case.”

“Why not?”

“Sometimes you need a longer rest from the action.”

Platinum just let herself go to the relaxation, letting the sound of manzai drown out the cameramen and reporters that hounded Sebastian outside the door. For now, she had her knights to protect her, and that was perfectly fine. 

It took hours, but Platinum was finally starting to feel ok again. She felt stuffed with all the goodies Diamond had dragged out of his seemingly endless array of bag compartments, her head filled with manzai that dragged laughter from deep in her belly. Diamond and Pearl were there for her, physically and mentally, and she couldn’t imagine what she would have done without them. As she thought fondly about her two best friends, a knock on her door snapped her back to reality. 

“Platinum?” the person on the other side said, their voice hesitant and almost… scared. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

It was her father. Apparently, however, not her real one. Diamond and Pearl both looked at her, concern written all over their faces. Platinum sat up, the knights at her side giving her the confidence she needed to face this, finally. 

“Come in.”

Apparently caught off guard, the door stayed closed for a few antagonizing seconds before Mr. Berlitz stepped into the room. He looked exhausted. Diamond and Pearl moved closer to her, leaving Mr. Berlitz standing in the doorway awkwardly. 

“Platinum… I’m sorry. I’m sorry you have to suffer for this, I’m sorry you were hurt because of this, and I want you to know I would do anything--  _ anything-- _ to make this all go away for your sake.”

Platinum looked back at him, conflicted. She knew he was sincere, but… how could anything ever be the same now? Would their relationship ever be what it had been before? Her father had been there for her, around to help her and love her far more than her mother ever was, but was all that built on a lie? Could she truly believe him anymore when he had lied to her for so long? Platinum blinked, trying not to let her voice betray her. 

“Do you still love me?” she asked. 

Mr. Berlitz looked as though he had just been stabbed. 

“Sweetheart… Of course I do.” He took a step forward, and as she got a better look, she realized that he was having as much trouble keeping himself together as she was. 

“I don’t care about some paternity test. You’re my daughter and I would do anything for you. Please  _ please _ don’t ever let anyone believe I don’t love you. You’re my everything. If you want to talk about this, that’s ok, but if you want to forget about it and live just like we were before, that’s ok too. Nothing has changed-- you’re still my daughter and I would move the earth for you. I love you no matter what.”

Diamond and Pearl slowly inched backwards, letting Mr. Berlitz kneel down beside the bed and wordlessly wrap Platinum in a hug. She shakily wrapped her arms around his back, and before she knew it they were both crying. 

“I- I love you too.”


End file.
